Tag: health

I was stunned when the occupational assistant, with a form in hand and looking to me over her glasses, told me “is that if you are Venezuelan you cannot participate in this program”. We were just her, a newly purchased stretcher and a plate of donuts.

WHO’s first release of surveillance data on antibiotic resistance reveals high levels of resistance to a number of serious bacterial infections in both high- and low-income countries. WHO’s new Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.

Incredible images of DNA in action have been captured by scientists who will use them to design cancer drugs. Researcher Dr Alessandro Vannini said the pictures were beautiful and in artistic comparisons were definitely a Van Gogh, since they capture a fundamental part of all plant and animal life, called RNA polymerase III, reading the genetic instructions contained in DNA. It is a process that gets hijacked by cancer.

Scientists have for the first time corrected a protein defect that causes Huntington's disease, by injecting a drug into the spine, offering new hope for patients with the devastating genetic disease. Lead researcher Sarah Tabrizi, professor of clinical neurology at University College London, said the ability of the drug to tackle the underlying cause of Huntington's by lowering levels of a toxic protein was ground-breaking.

The Argentine Lower House passed a law that bans smoking in public spaces and forbids advertising, promoting and sponsoring tobacco companies and forces manufacturers to include warnings on the back of all cigarette packs detailing the harmful effects of smoking on health.

One of the fastest-growing beauty treatments in Britain, fish pedicures – during which tiny toothless carp smooth down feet by eating dead skin – has come under new scrutiny from health experts and animal rights campaigners, reports the Sunday UK media.

The Brazilian government announced Tuesday that the country has seen a solid drop in childhood malnutrition which, together with the social progress achieved in other areas, meets the criteria under the U.N. Millennium Development Goals for the eradication of extreme poverty.

Venezuelan Health and Social Protection Minister Luis Reyes confirmed 15 cases of Chagas disease in the capital Caracas, following an outbreak in the popular quarters of the city. However Minister Reyes flatly discarded the word “epidemics”.

Paraguayan health authorities said that the number of dengue confirmed cases have reached 5.646, including a death toll of twelve, the latest of which a 60-year-old man and a 5-year-old boy. Most of the deaths reported are in areas near the border with Brazil.